The severe desert climate made a lot of residents move to live underground, in caves. A cave home usually has three bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and lounge that are excavated out of the rock in the hillsides. Such homes don’t require air-conditioning, because they remain at a constant temperature while summer temperatures on the surface can reach 40-50 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

Coober Pedy attracts tourists from all over the world. The mines, underground churches and graveyard are the most interesting attractions here. The trees you can find in this town are iron welded. You can play golf at night only to avoid hot temperatures. The local golf is free of grass that is why players take a small piece of tee-off turf with them.

Coober Pedy is featured in many movies, including Opal Dream, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Red Planet and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. NASA is planning to train astronauts for a planned mission to Mars here in 2012.

#1, it's people who moved into a complex of abandoned mines. and while i admire that in and of itself, this is not some group of forward-thinking, ground-breaking trendsetters. that is, these people should be considered on par with the community living in LA's old sewer and watermain systems.

#2, people can wave a proud flag about living anywhere, including antarctica, but the real question is- how sustainable are they? are they producing foodstuffs and their own essential materials, or are they dependent upon such things being delivered to them?

by comparison, i can permanently retire into my son's treehouse and facetiously consider myself a 'green person' while the electric company, waterworks, gas and internet providers provide all the essentials.